“In the Eastern Townships, in certain parts of the Montéregie — particularly in the area of the Yamaska River — I think it’s clear that we’re in a state of alert and our teams on the ground are in contact with (risk-prone) areas,” he said. “There’s an increased surveillance on all the waterways concerned.”

Coiteux said the lessons learned from last year’s flooding — which hit especially hard in Rigaud, Île-Bizard and Pierrefonds — included a more effective plan to allow the provincial government to work with cities in towns in the wake of a flood.

“I expect very soon to have an action to show you and it will contain very, very concrete measures,” he said.

The Couillard government and Coiteux specifically were blasted for how they handled damage compensation and accused of entangling flood victims in red tape. As of last month, less than 10 per cent of the more than 6,000 claims had been fully processed nearly a year after the flooding.

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